LW
books

Breaking
up Britain:
Four nations after a Union

Mark Perryman (editor)

'This brilliant book helps us understand what Scots, Welsh,
Irish and English neighbours, freed from an unhappy Union, might look like.'
Billy Bragg

May 2009 will be the
tenth anniversary of the first elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh
Assembly. This was the beginning of a decade of change - which now includes
the restoration of powers to Stormont - that is showing every sign of being
an irreversible process.

Breaking Up Britain is a unique collection of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish contributors,
featuring key political activists from the nationalist parties, commentators
and campaigners, academics and journalists. Each writer explores the change
that the break-up demands in their own nation, but also discusses its impact
upon the whole.

This dialogue of differences
is essential reading for anyone interested in the shape of politics and culture
after a Union.

Praise for Mark Perryman's
previous book Imagined Nation:'Some of the
sharpest thinking around on both the pitfalls of nationalism and the potential
for a progressive English identity'
Gary Younge'A kind of primer for post-Britons'David Edgar

Mark Perryman is a writer and regular media commentator on Englishness and football, and
a research fellow in sport and leisure culture at the University of Brighton.
He is convenor of the LondonEnglandFans supporters' group, co-founder of Philosophy
Football and author of a number of books, including Ingerland: Travels
with a Football Nation and (as editor) Imagined Nation: England after
Britain.

SECTION ONE: POST-DEVOLUTION
NATIONAL IDENTITY John Harris An English RealignmentKevin Williamson Language
and culture in a rediscovered ScotlandCharlotte Williams The melting pot and the British meltdown Arthur Aughey Wild catastrophism to mild moderation in Northern Ireland

SECTION TWO: MODELS OF
CIVIC NATIONALISMLeanne WoodGreening the Welsh
DragonSalma Yaqoob Muslim communities in search of a politics of common ground Gerry Adams No more Mé Féin but ourselves alone, together and equal Richard Thomson The social-democratisation of Scottish nationalism

SECTION THREE: FORMATIONS
OF EXCLUSIONVron Ware The ins and outs of Anglo-Saxonism Inez McCormack A Northern Irish experience of shaping rightsGregor Gall In search of a Scottish outside left Mike Parker Independence - that's when good neighbours become good
friends

SECTION FOUR: STATES
OF INDEPENDENCELesley Riddoch Tartanspotting and the contradictions of being ScotsJohn Osmond Welsh independence in an era of interdependencePeadar Kirby How the Celtic Tiger tames Irish dissentMichael Kenny & Guy Lodge More than one English question